And why can't I get some special color? I bet that'll take some money...

Exactly. They keep telling us the color is "gold," but I think it's yellow, and I suppose it's dark enough you might lean toward calling it orange. It means someone is a contributor (as in pay to keep the site running); we get a gold star too. If you're interested, you can click on "Upgrade Membership" in the menu bar at the top of the page. You get some goodies along with it, like ad-free viewing, ability to add an avatar and signature and photo in your profile (if you want to include one). There's some other perks too, but those seem to be the ones people like best. There's also, of course, the satisfaction of knowing you're contributing to the maintenance of a top-notch site for science education. I think that's the best reason.